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Castle Danger Brewery bubbling along

Contractors have completed the production site of the new Castle Danger Brewery in Two Harbors. Now under construction is the tap room and offices. Photo by Jim Erickson.

Overlooking the Edna G and the Agate Bay docks in Two Harbors, the new Castle Danger Brewery building is just weeks from opening its doors. No date has been set, but its owners say that brewing will begin in May before they welcome their first visitors sometime in June.

Throughout the fall and winter, crews finished the production side of the building and new brewing equipment is onsite. Now the tap room and offices are being built. When completed, Two Harbors natives, Jaime and Clint MacFarlane, will move their locally-grown business, currently housed in an outbuilding on their property in Castle Danger, into a much larger structure built by local hands, using domestically sourced materials.

“The tanks are made in Vancouver, Washington; everything in our entire building was made in the U.S.,” Jaime said, “we’re very proud of that and we’re using local labor as much as possible.”

The couple will offer tours and tastings in the tap room, where only their own products can be sold. Their hope they say, is that people will visit other local businesses –Louise’s, the Pub and Do North Pizza, for example, and bring food to the brewery to go along with their beer.

“We’re not going to have a restaurant, but we hope it will help some of the other businesses,” she said, and encourage people to consider moving their retail and service operations into the empty buildings in the downtown. Local officials are confident that Castle Danger Brewery will resurrect the once- busy main street.

“This specific business will be a catalyst for the beginning of a revitalization of our downtown business area,” said Two Harbors mayor, Randy Bolen. “Brewery's are natural destinations that draw many diverse groups of patrons and I truly believe we will start to see a resurgence of many businesses wanting to grow with the brewery and what's anticipated to happen in that specific area of Two Harbors.”

Castle Danger Brewery began as Clint MacFarlane’s hobby in 2006. His beer received praise from family and friends, and in 2011 he brewed his first three-barrel batch, according to the company’s website. Since then demand has grown, new varieties have been introduced and the couple’s production facility on East Castle Danger Road just north of Two Harbors is no longer adequate. The new facility, however, will allow for increased production once the equipment is tweaked to adjust for larger batches. For the purpose of taking the new system through its inaugural paces, the MacFarlanes say they’ll rely on the tried and true.

“We’ll probably brew some familiar special recipes,” said Jaime, rather than roll out a new variety for the first batches at the new brewery. Until then, customers can still pick up growlers where they always have-- 3067 East Castle Danger Road, on the grounds of Castle Haven Cabins. Castle Danger tap beer is available at bars and restaurants along the North Shore For more information and complete directions, visit the website http://castledangerbrewery.com/